Red Wings 7, Coyotes 3

Associated Press

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - If not for a missed third-period penalty shot, Nicklas Lidstrom would have had a perfect night.

Lidstrom had a goal and two assists to lead Detroit's four-goal second period and matched a career high with four points overall in the Red Wings' 7-3 rout of the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday night.

"I'm starting to feel better," said Lidstrom, who scored the gold-medal winning goal for Sweden last Sunday in the Turin Olympics. "My legs are starting to feel a lot better."

Lidstrom had a chance for a second goal when he was awarded a penalty shot - the first of his 15-year NHL career - with 7:04 to go. He was hooked from behind by Dave Scatchard while the Coyotes were on a 5-on-3 power play. His short wrist shot on the attempt was kicked aside easily by reserve goalie Phillipe Sauve.

Henrik Zetterberg had two goals and an assist, and Brendan Shanahan also scored twice for the Red Wings, who remained one point behind Carolina atop the NHL standings.

Steve Yzerman and Mark Mowers added goals for Detroit, which has won 12 of 16 (12-2-2).

Lidstrom and Babcock said the Red Wings were aided by a late Wednesday arrival in Phoenix followed by two full days off.

"We wanted to have a quick, good start," Lidstrom said. "We had a perfect start. We got two quick goals and spent a lot of time in their end."

Shane Doan and Steven Reinprecht had first-period, power-play goals. Mike Ricci also scored for the Coyotes, who went 3-5-2 during their season-high, 10-game homestand.

"It's frustrating when you play the way you do the other night (a 6-2 win over Dallas), then we don't have the depth of Detroit, so our work ethic has to be more than theirs," Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky said. "Obviously the first part of the game it wasn't. You're only as good as your last shift and we looked liked we were enjoying the fruits of our last victory too much."

Ricci's goal at 12:49 pulled the Coyotes within 4-3 but the Red Wings scored the final three goals of the period, the first two coming 15 seconds apart.

Zetterberg scored his second on the power play at 15:10 on a crisp wrist shot from the inside of the left circle to make it 5-3. Lidstrom made it a three-goal game 15 seconds later when he gained control of the puck between the circles and bounced a shot off Curtis Joseph's left leg and into the net.

Shanahan's second goal put Detroit in front 7-3 with 1:03 left in the second.

Joseph was pulled at the start of the third period in favor of Sauve after allowing seven goals on 27 shots.

Mowers gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead 59 seconds in, and Shanahan extended the lead to 2-1 at 3:26 of the first period off a pass from Lidstrom.

"We wanted to make sure mentally we were ready and weren't still thinking about the Phoenix sun," Mowers said.

Zetterberg made it 3-0 at 12:36 of the first when his attempted centering pass deflected off Dennis Seidenberg's skate and back onto his stick before he wristed the puck past Joseph.

The Coyotes rallied late in the period with an extended two-man advantage. Doan beat Manny Legace on a one-timer from the left point at 18:38, and Reinprecht redirected Zbynek Michalek's shot from the point at 19:10 to cut Detroit's lead to 3-2.

The goals came on the last two of Phoenix's five first-period, power-play opportunities.

"Anytime you're short-handed five times in the first period on the road you're lucky to survive it," Babcock said.

Yzerman scored his first goal since Jan. 30 and the 685th of his career at 11:29 of the second for a 4-2 Red Wings lead.

Notes: Lidstrom has six career four-point games. ... Detroit is 25-0-1 when leading after two periods. ... Phoenix center Mike Comrie played in his 300th NHL game and recorded his 200th career point with an assist on Doan's goal. ... Joseph has been pulled twice this season after two periods. ... Joseph's rough night also included a pair of second-period slashing penalties. "I deserved those penalties, but sometimes you try to be proactive," Joseph said. "It didn't work tonight."